English katha of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji that has been commenced by Kamalpreet Singh Pardeshi. This katha is different from other English language kathas as it is taken from the Sampardaic commentaries preserved by the taksals and is to provide those individuals who do not have a complete grasp of Gurbani, access to the knowledge preserved. This is a truly fantastic opportunity for those who do not understand the Indian languages to learn the deep katha of Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji from a sampardaic perspective.

On the night of Diwali at 1 am many devi devtay do ishnaan in the sarovar at Sri Harmandir Sahib. Only God knows how many bhagats, rishis, munis do tapp that day with greater efforts than other days. Das only knows that he has been told that Sant Gurbachan Singh ji bhindrenwale gave bachan that this day is considered special and that devtay do ishnaan at 1 am every Diwali.

Those who do kamai of whatever shabad that feels appropriate to get their iccha (desires) pooran (complete), will have that happen so long as they keep full sharda. Do abhyaas of whatever shabad seems appropriate from 8:30 pm to 1:30 am and do ardass for Guru Maharaj to fulilll your icha. If Maharaj does kirpa then you’ll get it.

A gupt sadhu has told me that anyone who does simran (meditation) or seva (selfless service) will get 84 times the kamai (benefit) during the month of Magh. Magh begins on the 13th of this month. Please share with those you know.

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As for maryada, all I know is that we should do kesh ishnaan at Amritvela everyday and try to be consistent with doing kamai and Maharaj ji’s darshan (if possible) everyday.

As many of you already know, Major General Shahbeg Singh ji was the soorma (warrior) who planned the strategy of the Singhs in preparation of Operation Bluestar. Knowing the army tactics, he planned the defenses and fortifications. When it was learned that spies had leaked information to the government about their plans, he reworked the entire battle plan in just one night. In honour of his shaheedi, and the shaheedi of all the defenders of the Golden Temple complex against the murderous Indian government, we’re posting this old interview with the General.

Although its been said before, I wish to reemphasize that prior to and during the assault there was no arrest warrant for Sant Jarnail Singh ji and that Sant ji ordered the Singhs to not shoot first. For more information please click on the appropriate category as there are many other posts on this blog about 1984.

Interview

May 1984. The Telegraph, Calcutta. India

Major General Shahbeg Singh, whose body was found in the basement of the Akal Takht on June 6, 1984 along with that of Bhai Amrik Singh was interviewed by The Telegraph four weeks before he died.

He was a sad, sick man eaten up with bitterness against the Indian government and obsessed with the idea that he had been thrown out of the army because he was a Sikh. A brilliant General who organised the Mukti Bahini in the 1971 Bangladesh war, he was “suspected of having taken away loot” and eased out the army. He seemed surprised, however, that his name was being linked with the Dashmesh Regiment and said that he did not believe in violence. He made no attempt to hide links with Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, however. The General was a slight, frail-looking man with a flowing grey beard. His bitterness about what had happened to him had obviously overwhelmed every other consideration. The ruling passion of his last years was anger and hate.

Q: Why were you removed from the army?

A: You should ask the army. I’m the only person whom they did not even put on trial. If they could put other Generals on trial, if they could take them to court martial and frame charges against them, why couldn’t they do the same for me?

Q: Why didn’t they give you a trial?

A: Because they had nothing against me and they just wanted to throw me out. Leave alone a fair trial, they didn’t give me any kind of trial. They threw me out under a special clause which has never been invoked in the British army and has been invoked in the Indian army only in my case. This is a special power given to the Army chief under which my services were “administratively terminated” one day before they ended. Then they started two other cases against me : one was that I got a truck in somebody else’s name and the other was that I built a house costing Rs. 9 lakhs. I told them that I had built the house for Rs.1.75 lakhs. Vigilance valued it at Rs.1.8 lakhs or something. In the court it came down to exactly what I had said.

Q: So you won the cases?

A: I won the cases. But I wasn’t dismissed on those grounds. What happened then was they handed over the case to the CBI for investigation. After my dismissal they filed this case in the court, so for five years I was humiliated and harassed in court. I realised they were delaying justice deliberately, I went and talked to the Home Minister, Giani Zail Singh, and he promised justice. I had gone with the then Advocate General who is a friend of mine, and he told Giani ji that this man has done so much for the country. He said, this is probably your only General who has brought so much fame to the country and look, what you are doing to him. Giani ji asked for the case to be reviewed, but he never did anything about it. In any case, nothing was done. And instead of withdrawing these false cases against me they went on deliberately delaying the legal proceedings. The judge wrote a letter to the CBI saying that the time and efforts of the court should not be wasted and witnesses should be produced in court. Inspite of this the case continued to be delayed and the CBI told me that they could delay it for 20 years if they so wished.

Q: But how did you suddenly fall out of favour after being a hero in the Bangladesh war?

A: Because I made a statement, not a statement really, I just said, during the Emergency, that nobody was indispensable in the service of this country. This to me was a patriotic statement. But this statement was carried through the backdoor to the Army Chief and the PM, and God knows what they thought that I was a rebel, or whatever. The aim was to deny me my promotion because I was a Sikh. This is how Sikhs are being persecuted in the army.

Q: Do you feel that other Sikhs in the army are also discriminated against like this?

A: Of course. It is not just a question of being discriminated against. We are suspect. It has been stated by no less a person than Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh on TV that Sikhs as a class should not be suspected.

Q: Can you tell us a little bit about the Mukti Bahini, how you went in and set it up.

A: These are all top secret things about which I am not supposed to talk. I’m not even allowed to write a book. (If I talked) I would be called unpatriotic and I don’t want that.

Q: But can’t you tell us about the first time you went in and what it was like?

A: You can ask General Jagjit Singh Aurora. He was my boss. I’m not in the habit of talking about these things.

Q: But since you’ve been victimised….

A: Of course, I’ve been victimised. I even appealed to Mrs. Indira Gandhi. I said, let me be court martialled now, or put me up before a civil court, or a tribunal headed by an eminent legal man. As a last resort I even suggested that my case be looked into by someone like Mr Arun Nehru. I also stated in my appeal that I was unwell and that my wife was suffering because I had continuous active service for 12 years with only a six months’ break in between. I was serving in Jammu and Kashmir when I went for the Chinese War. There, again, in General Kaul’s book I am mentioned because, at a time when people were retreating and bringing dishonour to the country, I was going forward and bringing honour. Read Untold Story, page 419, I think.

Q: What was your rank at the time?

A: I was Lt. Colonel, yet the work I was doing was not that of commander’s. I was staff officer. First, I was staff officer to General Harbaksh Singh, then I became staff officer to General Kaul and after that came General Manekshaw. I was General Staff Officer in IV Corps for all these three Generals. Another person who was told to move “forthwith” from Jammu and Kashmir to go and face the Chinese , took 20 days to get there. I took one day. Now that is my patriotism. But I am a Sikh and he is a Hindu. He became an Area Commander, Lt. General, but I was singled out so that I could not come forward for further promotion. And all kinds of charges were brought against me. I was even told that I was a friend of Mr Bahuguna after he had been removed from chief ministership in UP. Now, what I said then was: I’ve got nothing to do with politics but if he had been invited earlier, when he was the chief minister, to participate in a mushaira, how can I tell him not to come; even though the commissioner and the DIG told me that regular reports were being sent on him to Delhi. This was also considered an anti-national act, – the fact that he came to a mushaira in Lucknow arranged by me.

Q: But do you really think it was because were a Sikh? General Harbaksh made it to a higher rank and so did General Aurora.

A: Well, they probably denied promotion to me because there would have been too many Sikh Generals.

Q: But were you a supporter of the Sikh cause in those days?

A: I have always been spiritually inclined. My mother taught me Japji when I was only five years old. And then I was in the habit of always organising an Akhand path wherever I went. When Gyaniji has a picture taken carrying the Granth Sahib on his head he is considered a devout Sikh. But when I did it as a General they spoke of me as a religion-oriented man.

Q: How long have you been living here (Golden Temple)?

A: For about three weeks. You see, after winning these two cases we had `sukhoed’ (vowed) a certain amount of prayers. So every Sunday, for three Sundays, we have had to go to Gurdwara Baba Deep Singh for six hours of meditation and recitation of the Sukhmani Sahib. Then we have done an Akhand path here at the Darbar Sahib and we still have an Akhand path and langar to do at Baba Bakala. And a certain amount of prayers I still have to do here. I wake up everyday at 3 am, have a bath and then at 4.30 I am there for the palki Sahib Sewa. When the Guru Granth is carried from the Akal Takht to the Gurdwara. I stay on there for my normal path. My Sukhmani Sahib I do either there or come back here. Then I go back for the Rehras (sunset prayers).

Q: So you’ve been here for some months?

A: No, only three weeks. As my village is here next door, I go and live there. It’s just about 10 miles from here, a village known as Khayala, where I was born. You people suspect that I must be here for this and that reason. But it’s only because of these path (prayers) and my wife’s illness, which is a gift from Mrs. Indira Gandhi. I have been living in non-family stations on active service continuously for 12 years. She was diagnosed as having a tumour in the bladder, an infection which has never properly healed. In my appeal to Mrs Indira Gandhi I said, look, we are getting old and, if not for me, then for the sake of my wife who has done so much for this country, you should look into my case and give me justice.

Q: Are you a supporter of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale?

A: As far as my relations with Sant Jarnail Singh are concerned, there is nothing to suspect. I’ve told you that I am a patriot. Probably in a finer mould then the Prime Minister herself. I have met Bhindranwale. There is no doubt of it and I also feel that there is a strong touch of spiritualism in this person. He is a man who stands by the truth. The Government is deliberately terming him a traitor because his brand of politics probably doesn’t suit them. But the fact is that there is hardly a Sikh in this world who does not accept him as a leader. I also accept him as a leader. I firmly believe that he is the only Sikh born after Guru Gobind Singh who can get justice for the Sikhs as a community in this country where we have been persecuted ever since independence. We are suspected individually and as a community.

Q: But do you support violent methods:

A: No, we don’t believe in violence. We have proved it by courting arrest last year and staying in jail for three months. I think that is probably why they decided to put me out and not give me my pension. The orders were received when I was in jail. Having served this country with gallantry and distinction, this Government thinks it necessary to deny me even my pension.

I became a Bengali for the sake my country. I cut my hair and then I took amrit again. I trained General Zia-ur-Rahman. He and his wife Khaleda saw me when they came here. He was with me as one of the sub section commanders responsible for victory in Chittagong. I am the only General to have been treated in such a shabby manner. I cannot even afford medical expenses when I had a massive heart attack last year.

How many of us live our lives with regret? How many see the old people in our culture fearful of death because they know they wasted their youth without Naam? How long will we continue to regret not being true to ourselves? How long will we allow ourselves to be buffeted by the winds of fear and uncertainty because we have not established a personal relationship with our atma (soul)? God is the only stable thing in this world, all else is ephemeral. Amritvela is essential to develop deep roots in this stability, and only than can the continually shifting sands of life not shake us to the core. All worldly sukh (pleasure/comfort) is temporary, and with it comes dukh (pain). By searching for spiritual sukh instead we invest in the one thing that cannot be taken away. My benti to all of you is to try to make the coming year your most dedicated to spiritual growth. Please keep amritvela (early morning meditation), please continually attend sadhsangat (congregational meditation and contemplation) and engage your mind in the programs. From personal experience I’ve learned that there is no greater way to gain peace of mind and happiness than from keeping these two habits.

My mother, who is a care aid at an old persons’ home, has told me that when they find dharmic-minded people dead, they always have a look of peace on thier face. When they find the bodies of nastic (atheist) people, they have a look of struggle, a distinct lack of peace, on their face. She has even heard dharmic people sometimes see angels come to take them in the moment before death, and are sometimes given time to say a proper goodbye to their families. For the sake of the world and ourselves, please accept this humble benti (plea) to live a more spiritually focused life from now on. As all minds are connected, this raises the consciousness of the entire world.

The following article is from a person who has worked with dying people for many years:

For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives.

People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality. I learnt never to underestimate someone’s capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance. Every single patient found their peace before they departed though, every one of them.

When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.

It is very important to try and honour at least some of your dreams along the way. From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.

This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.

By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.

We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.

It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip. But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.

When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.

Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness.